DISTRICT 50 TOASTMASTERS
District Executive Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 | Online Meeting
Call to Order and Opening
Logistics Manager Earl Jones opened the meeting and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Participants were reminded to identify themselves in Zoom by role or area and first and last name. Earl Jones then led the District Mission: “We build new clubs and support all clubs in achieving excellence.”
District Director Denise Castille, DTM, welcomed the District Executive Council and reviewed the focused agenda, including the District 50 Distinguished path, the 2025-2026 budget, alignment vote results, parliamentary procedure, the Club Growth Challenge, and Program Quality updates.
District 50 Recognition
District Director Denise Castille opened a brief District 50 Shout Out recognition period. Members recognized fellow leaders for teamwork, professionalism, support, and service, including Nadum, Amy, Kelly McMaster and the program planning subcommittee, and the District Trio - Denise Castille, Shane Gilmore, and Rhonda Bunte.
Our Path to Distinguished
Program Quality Director Rhonda Bunte, DTM, reviewed the requirements for clubs and the district to achieve Distinguished recognition. She emphasized submitting Club Success Plans to Toastmasters International by September 30, maintaining membership strength, completing education goals, training club officers, submitting officer lists and renewals on time, and recruiting new members.
District recognition targets reviewed were 51 Distinguished clubs, 57 Select Distinguished clubs, 63 President’s Distinguished clubs, and 68 Smedley Distinguished clubs.
|
Measure |
Base |
To Date |
Goals |
|
Paid Clubs |
113 |
115 |
Distinguished: 115 | Select: 117 | President’s: 119 | Smedley: 123 |
|
Payments |
4,495 |
993 |
Distinguished: 4,540 | Select: 4,630 | President’s: 4,720 | Smedley: 4,855 |
|
Distinguished Clubs |
113 |
0 |
Distinguished: 51 | Select: 57 | President’s: 63 | Smedley: 68 |
Division Breakouts and District Team Debrief
Members moved into division breakout rooms to discuss the level of Distinguished recognition District 50 should pursue and the actions needed to help clubs succeed. Following the breakouts, each division shared its goals and strategies.
• Eastern Division discussed sharing best practices for promoting clubs, reinforcing that membership growth is every member’s responsibility, and exploring joint open houses, multi-club events, and community or business hiring events. Eastern supported a Distinguished District goal.
• Frontier Division discussed reviewing the dashboard to identify clubs with lower membership and working with district leaders to strengthen struggling clubs. Frontier supported a Select Distinguished goal.
• Metro Division encouraged setting a high goal, with members advocating for President’s Distinguished or higher so that even falling short would position the district strongly.
• Plains Division focused on having all areas become Distinguished Areas, with a goal of at least three Distinguished clubs in most areas. Plains supported a Distinguished District goal.
• Southern Division expressed confidence in its clubs and area directors and supported a Distinguished District goal.
The debrief reflected three divisions supporting Distinguished, two supporting Select Distinguished, and two supporting Smedley Distinguished. Based on the discussion, Distinguished was identified as the group’s minimum district goal, while district leadership encouraged the team to stretch toward Smedley Distinguished.
Parliamentary Procedure and Voting Guidance
Parliamentarian Norman Lum-Hee reviewed parliamentary procedure in preparation for upcoming district voting. He explained that parliamentary procedure supports fairness, equal voice, orderly decision-making, transparency, and accountability. A quorum is required to conduct official business, and a majority vote is more than half of votes cast, excluding abstentions. Abstentions may count toward establishing a quorum but do not count toward the majority vote total. Members were advised that ElectionBuddy would be used for voting and that voting options would be yes, no, or abstain.
Post-Annual Business Meeting Alignment Changes
The Credentials Chair reported the results of the vote on the post-Annual Business Meeting alignment changes. Information outlining the proposed changes was distributed on September 7, followed by voting links on September 9.
Motion/Outcome: The motion to approve the post-Annual Business Meeting alignment changes, specifically modifications to the district boundary to support optimal club allocation, passed. A total of 24 votes were cast: 21 yes votes and 3 abstentions. The motion was approved.
Budget Review
Finance Manager Jaya Eripilla, DTM, presented the District 50 2025-2026 budget and reviewed the Finance Manager’s role in fiscal oversight, monthly documentation and reconciliation, and collaboration with the District Director, Program Quality Director, and Club Growth Director. Budget preparation began around July 30 and was reviewed by the Trio and Finance Manager before preliminary submission to Toastmasters International.
Budget priorities were reviewed in the following order: education and training; marketing outside Toastmasters; club growth and retention; membership growth; district communication; public relations; followed by recognition, travel and lodging, food and meals, district speech contests, administration, and district meetings. Optional October/November events must be budgeted, self-funded, and may not result in a financial loss.
The approved budget summary included $62,350 in membership dues allocation, total projected revenue of $96,850, total projected expenses of $94,400, and a projected difference of $2,450. Projected revenue included approximately $21,000 for the conference, more than $8,000 for an October/November event, $500 in fundraising revenue, $2,750 in education revenue, $1,000 in district store revenue, and $1,000 in speech contest revenue.
Jaya clarified that self-funded activities must remain within the revenue generated for those activities. District leadership also clarified that fundraising revenue may be generated through sponsorships, but no separate fundraising expense category was budgeted. The full budget summary will be presented at the District Council meeting.
Club Growth Challenge
Club Growth Director Shane Gilmore presented the District 50 Division Director Challenge. The division that charters the most new clubs by March will win a pizza party. Division Directors and Area Directors were encouraged to generate leads through employers, companies, community contacts, and other networks and to work with the Club Growth team to build new clubs.
Shane connected the challenge to the District Mission and the district’s Smedley Distinguished targets, including a goal of 123 paid clubs and 68 Distinguished clubs. Leaders were encouraged to pursue club sponsor and mentor opportunities while strengthening District 50’s overall club base.
Program Quality Updates
Program Quality Director Rhonda Bunte reported that 58 Club Success Plans, representing approximately 51% of clubs, had been submitted. Eastern Division was leading submissions, with Southern, Town North, and Plains following closely. Clubs submitting their Club Success Plan by Saturday, September 20, were eligible to receive $20 in Bookstore Bucks.
Fall Converge was announced for November 15 at Collin College in Frisco. The event will focus on “Back to Basics” and include judges training, membership building, becoming a DTM, effective evaluation, preparing a winning speech, a Hall of Fame, a keynote speaker, and a mock evaluation speech contest. Area and Division Directors will assist with the mock contest. Registration was announced at $50 per member, with lunch included. Leaders were also encouraged to identify potential sponsors and refer them to the Program Quality team and Fall Converge Chair.
Contest training was announced for September 19, September 26, and September 30, with registration available through the District 50 event calendar. Spring contests will include International Speech and Evaluation contests. Area contests are expected in late February/March, followed by Division contests in April. Program Quality leadership is working to secure contest locations so Area and Division Directors will not be responsible for finding venues on their own. Additional Fall Converge and mock contest information will be distributed through District communications and contest training.
Next Steps and Important Dates
• Next District Executive Council meeting: November 18, 2025.
• District Council Meeting: September 27 via Zoom.
• Toastmasters membership dues are due September 30.
• District 50 Everywhere: Frisco Oktoberfest on October 4. Members interested in volunteering were directed to the event team.
• Fall Converge: November 15 at Collin College in Frisco.
• DEC Holiday Gathering: December 13.
• Steering Committee Holiday Gathering/Meeting: December 6.
District leadership also advised members that District 50 is involved in a redistricting process. Toastmasters International is developing the plan, and additional information will be shared with the district when available. At this time, no vote on the Annual Business Meeting format is required.
Adjournment
With no further questions or business, District Director Denise Castille adjourned the meeting at approximately 8:25 p.m.